Real Life Isn't a Fairytale, Or Is It?
by MWolfL
Summary: Something new has happened to Starlight and Sunburst, but they're both afraid to act on it. Will they be able to work up the courage, or will their fear risk their friendship getting harmed again?
1. Dream or Nightmare?

_Starlight Glimmer walked through an unfamiliar path in a dark forest, wondering where the heck she was._

 _Suddenly a glow appeared in front of her. Assuming that to be the way out, Starlight headed towards it. But the closer she got the farther it seemed. Desperate, she started running after it, but it stayed ahead of her as if it was alive._

 _Then, for what seemed like an eternity, she managed to reach the glow. Or a different glow, actually. The one she had chased was sort of a yellow-orange and this glow was the white light of the sun. Confused, she left the forest to find herself in a beautiful meadow with familiar-looking berry bushes._

" _Where am I?" She asked herself._

" _You are home Starlight." A familiar voice said._

 _Starlight turned towards the voice to find Sunburst standing near her. But unlike the previous times she saw him he wasn't wearing his wizard's cloak, his mane, tail, and beard were neater...and he was surrounded by a yellow-orange glow._

" _Sunburst? You were the glow I was chasing earlier?" Starlight was surprised. "And what do you mean by 'home'?"_

" _Well I'm not glowing so I have no idea what you're talking about, but as for your home it's right there." Sunburst pointed to his right._

 _Starlight turned and saw the Crystal Empire. Now she realized why the berry bushes seemed familiar._

" _But...but my home is in Ponyville...in the Castle of Friendship." Starlight was even more confused._

" _Not anymore." Sunburst was suddenly closer to her._

 _For some reason, Starlight felt a bit scared and her heart started beating hard. She tried to back away but she was frozen stiff, and Sunburst's muzzle was coming closer-_

Starlight suddenly sat up with a gasp, panting. She then saw that she was in bed, in her bedroom in the Castle of Friendship. It was still nighttime, based on the lack of sunlight from the window.

"That was a dream?" She frowned. "But then why did it feel like a nightmare near the end? And what did dream-Sunburst mean by home...and why couldn't he see that he was glowing? Was I the only one who could see it?"

She groaned and laid back down. That dream/nightmare just made no sense.

"Okay, okay, one bit at a time..." Starlight muttered. "Well...I guess the dark forest referenced my past...and I guess glowing-Sunburst and the Crystal Empire referenced me leaving my past for a brighter future...but what about the rest of it?"

"I believe I can help."

Starlight shot up again, but relaxed when she saw Luna standing in front of her bed.

"Oh thank goodness you're here, I stink at figuring out dreams...wait, is this another dream or are you actually here?" Starlight asked.

"Another dream. It's faster than actually flying here and entering the castle." Luna smiled. "I actually used my magic to pull you out of that previous dream, because I sensed your fear and figured that it was best that you understood what was going on before the dream officially ended."

"Because of how poorly I reacted to fear in the past?" Starlight deadpanned.

"Well...actually yes." Luna winced. "I am sorry, I mean no offense. It's just that you've become a good friend to others despite your past and I want to make sure that you have the future you deserve because of that."

"Future?"

"Yes, you see that dream you were having was a result of your heart trying to tell you something." Luna explained. "But obviously you either haven't heard your heart yet or you've been ignoring it for one reason or another."

"Well given how weird the dream was my heart must be desperate." Starlight rolled her eyes. "And I haven't heard it, actually. I didn't even know that it was trying to tell me something."

"I see. Tell me Starlight Glimmer, have you been ignoring your heart most of the time lately?"

"No." Starlight scoffed. "If I had I wouldn't have accepted Twilight's offer of friendship."

"No I meant 'lately' as in 'since you and Sunburst rekindled your friendship'."

"Oh, since then...gee, if I have it was unintentional. I didn't even know whether I was or not." Starlight shrugged.

"What about you trying to make a new friend per Twilight's lesson? Did you listen to your heart at all during then?"

"Um...I guess not much. I was kinda listening to my fears instead. Even when Trixie became my friend I was still slightly nervous...I did completely listen to my heart when I rekindled my friendship with her though."

"That is good, I'm glad to hear that you haven't been completely ignoring your heart."

"Okay, but what does all that have to do with my previous dream?"

"Simple: you are still afraid of being hurt again."

"Well...yeah..." Starlight had to admit that Luna was right. "Not surprising really, when you think about it. So, again, my dream...?"

"Well, if I have translated your dream right your heart has been trying to tell you something about Sunburst, but your fear of being hurt again has caused you to unintentionally ignore it." Luna then smiled slyly. "Tell me Starlight, what do you think of Sunburst?"

"Um...well he's kind, smart...given the fact that he never held my past against me he's also very forgiving, so I'd also say that he has a strong heart." Starlight listed her thoughts. "Truthfully I'm slightly happier when I'm with him, in comparison to how happy I am here, and he's actually handsome-" Her eyes widened. "Oh no...no I couldn't have..."

"Think about your previous dream again." Luna continued smiling.

Starlight did. She thought about how Sunburst was glowing, how he told her that the Crystal Empire was her home, how her heart pounded when he neared her...and she face-hoofed.

"Oh horseapples!" She groaned. "Luna, what am I going-"

Luna was gone.

"Hm, guess she's not the one I'm supposed to talk to about this." Starlight muttered.

The next thing Starlight knew, it was morning. She slowly sat up, wondering if she was still dreaming or if this time she actually was awake. She used her brush to lightly hit her foreleg. Nope, pain, she was awake.

"Great, how could I have fallen in love with Sunburst?" She sighed. "I mean seriously, like he'd ever return my feelings."

She reluctantly got out of bed, neatened her mane and tail, and headed downstairs for breakfast. She knew she had to talk to someone about this, and if Luna wasn't going to help...

"Morning Starlight...didn't get much sleep?" Spike guessed upon seeing Starlight's droopy manner.

"Um...not exactly. Is Twilight sleeping in again?" Starlight looked around for her.

"Surprisingly no, in fact she left early to talk to Arbor." Spike chuckled. "Since he officially moved in just a few days ago she figured it was time to let his parents know about it, so she wants to get their contact info."

"Arbor hasn't contacted them himself?" Starlight was surprised.

"I think he's still busy settling in, or maybe he's just shy about telling his parents that he has a very special somepony now." Spike shrugged. "So what do you need to talk to Twilight about? Maybe I can help."

"Um...thanks Spike but come to think of it I think all of the Bearers of Harmony should be contacted." Starlight decided; it wouldn't hurt to get multiple viewpoints on the matter.

"Oh no...what's wrong?" Spike asked concernedly.

"Well...frankly depending on your perspective it's either something bad or something wonderful." Starlight actually blushed a little.

Spike looked as if he just realized something.

"Hold on a- You really did fall in love with somepony didn't you?" He started to smile.

"Should've guessed that you'd catch on given that you've already fallen in love with somepony." Starlight muttered.

"Yeah, I have learned to pick up the signs. Especially due to having already experienced Twilight falling in love." Spike chuckled. "Right, I'll get Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight. Don't think Pinkie would be much help since she's never fallen in love before."

"Good call."

"Be right back with the others, and be sure to have a good breakfast while you're waiting." Spike said as he left the kitchen.

Starlight at least got herself a decent breakfast, not being that hungry. She was done and was able to clean her dishes by the time Spike got back with everypony else, so she met them in the throne room.

"What do you need our help with Sugar Cube?" Applejack asked.

"Well, I had a weird dream last night. Luna visited me and through talking to her I found out that the dream was because my heart was trying to tell me something." Starlight took a deep breath. "I've fallen in love with Sunburst."

"Called it!" Spike pumped an arm. "I told you guys he was the one she fell in love with."

"We figured it out too Spike, after all it's not like there were many other options." Twilight chuckled.

"So...you're not surprised?" Starlight was a bit surprised.

"No, to be honest I was wondering if you were ever going to realize your feelings for him." Twilight smirked.

"Given how many times you've been wanting to visit Sunburst and how long you often stay when you do, I was wondering that myself." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Wait a- Do you mean to tell me that everypony **except** me knew that I had feelings for Sunburst this whole time?" Starlight nearly yelled, obviously not amused by this revelation.

"Not really, just us. I doubt even Pinkie figured it out." Fluttershy said.

"Oh...well as long as the rest of Ponyville and the entire Crystal Empire hasn't..." Starlight snarked.

"Geez take it easy, what's the big deal anyway?" Rainbow Dash frowned.

"The big deal is that I'm not sure I even want a very special somepony all right?" Starlight snapped before doing a headdesk.

You could almost hear a pin drop, that is if someone had dropped a pin. But no one did so...never mind.

"Starlight you...you still haven't completely gotten over your past have you?" Twilight realized sympathetically.

"Not really...I mean come on, the Cutie Mark incident aside I nearly doomed Equestria with that time traveling stunt, you really think I could easily forgive myself for that?" Starlight raised her head and gave Twilight a stern look.

"Um, considerin' you didn't even know your actions would cause that until Twilight showed ya I think you mite be takin' that incident a little too hard." Applejack pointed out. "I mean harmin' Equestria was never your plan right?"

"Well...well of course not but..." Starlight was almost in tears. "Look, I just believe that Sunburst deserves better, he deserves a mare who isn't prone to becoming evil. I still can't believe he's willing to be friends with me again despite my past..."

"Yes, which shows how much he really does care about you." Spike pointed out. "I mean the only reason why he hesitated at being friends with you again at first was because he was ashamed of his lack of powerful magic."

"Silly really, like that's even important." Starlight scoffed.

"Well maybe he thinks your constant guilt is silly." Rainbow Dash said. "I mean you'll never know unless you actually talk to him about this."

"No way, I'm not gonna risk harming our friendship. I mean remember what it did to me the last time that happened?"

"Yes, which proves that your heart was always connected to him even when you were both foals." Rarity said before sighing. "It's romantic really, I always did enjoy stories about couples who have been close since they were foals."

"Yeah, well, those were stories. This is real life. It's not like I can just write this whole thing so that Sunburst does return my feelings and we get married and have foals-" She blushed as she realized what she was saying. "Geez...I really do have it bad."

"And it's not going to go away, so you might as well do something about it." Twilight said. "Like tell him how you really feel."

"Yeah? How?"

"Um..." Twilight had to admit that she was stumped. "Well I don't have any experience with this sort of thing, so I don't have any advice. Spike? Girls? Can one of you help?"

Fluttershy had nothing.

"Well I was nervous about tellin' Richie my feelins even though I already knew he liked me back, but that was mostly because I wasn't sure how to balance dating him with my farm life" Applejack shrugged. "Things worked out at least decently...I still miss him often but he does write and his last letter promised he'd visit soon."

"I only almost told Rarity my feelings when I thought that we were going to die, but I doubt you want to go with that." Spike winced.

"Definitely not." Starlight deadpanned.

"I wasn't really nervous about telling Precious Scales my feelings after I finally realized them. More like I was a bit ashamed for holding them back for shallow reasons." Rarity remembered. "So I have nothing either. Well, except don't change who you are just to impress Sunburst."

"Yeah, like wear droopy drawers." Applejack sniggered.

Rarity blushed with embarrassment.

"I'll never stop being grateful that no one had a camera handy at the time..." She muttered.

Rainbow Dash suddenly cleared her throat.

"Starlight, I sort of get how you feel." She admitted.

Everyone stared at her.

"Long ago I used to believe that I wasn't good enough for Soarin, hence why I kept my crush on him a secret from everypony except dad and Fluttershy- Wait a minute! Fluttershy how come you never told Zephyr that I always had feelings for Soarin? It could've gotten him off my back a long time ago!"

"Actually I did once, but he didn't listen." Fluttershy frowned.

"Oh...geez why am I not surprised?" Rainbow Dash said with exasperation before clearing her throat again. "Anyway, back to my point: I stopped believing that I wasn't good enough for Soarin after he asked me out."

"Great." Starlight groaned. "Even if Sunburst ever does love me back, which I doubt he will, he'll never get the courage to tell me."

No one could argue with that.

Then there was a knock at the door. Spike opened it and let Soarin in.

"Hey, I dropped by to ask Dash if she wanted to go for a flight and I couldn't help overhearing." He admitted. "To be honest, I was too insecure to ask Rainbow Dash out at first. I mean she's a more awesome flier than any of us Wonderbolts, so I thought I wasn't good enough for her."

Even Rainbow Dash was shocked.

"Seriously?" She said. "How were you able to work up the courage to ask me out then?"

"It was the fire in Manehattan. When I heard what happened I...I became scared, for you." Soarin explained. "I realized that if you had died in the fire then I would've always regretted never telling you how I felt, how I still feel. I realized that I never wanted to lose you, so I decided to take a chance while I still could. I knew that you turning me down would never feel even half as bad as...well, you know..."

Rainbow Dash was so touched by this that she actually hugged Soarin.

"I would love to go for a flight." She said.

Soarin smiled and returned the hug. After they broke free they said their goodbyes to the others and left.

Starlight sighed.

"Well, I do have to admit that I feel the same way about Sunburst." She said. "But I still don't know if I can tell him. I don't even know how to tell him."

"Maybe doing a major favor for him? Spike risking his life for me was how I realized my feelings for him...er, after some persuasion from Sweetie Belle of course." Rarity finished awkwardly.

"Sunburst never leaves the Crystal Empire, so that may not be possible." Starlight almost muttered.

"Say, maybe you could invite him here sometime." Twilight just got an idea. "If nothing else that'll at least tell Sunburst that you consider him worthy of visiting you in the Castle of Friendship. Plus it might be easier telling him here than it would be to tell him in the Crystal Empire.

"Well I doubt he'll accept the invitation, but otherwise that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Starlight considered. "Eh, I'll think it over later. As for now I think a change of scenery would do me some good. Twilight, may I have the day off to go to Canterlot?"

"Of course, just be back before dinner, or at least spend the night in Canterlot Castle if you don't think you'll make it back by then." Twilight nodded understandingly. "I'll write ahead to Princess Celestia to let her know to have a spare room ready for you just in case."

"Oh I'll try to make it back by dinner, but thank you." Starlight smiled.


	2. A Similar Problem, A Different Location

Much earlier, at least a few days earlier if not more (I'm not sure how long the train trip from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire is)...

 _Sunburst sat at the side of a ballroom, sadly watching the masked dancing ponies. Then a gorgeous masked unicorn mare in a ballroom gown approached him._

" _Would you like to dance?" She asked._

 _Sunburst hesitated, surprised that a mare wanted to dance with him. But something seemed familiar about her..._

" _Um...sure." He gave in._

 _He got up and they walked onto the dance floor. They started dancing in silence for a while, then Sunburst worked up the courage to speak._

" _Sorry if I seem rude but...do I know you? I mean you seem familiar..." He said shyly._

" _As a matter of fact you do know me." The mare smiled. "You've known me for years."_

 _Sunburst started to get it...she was a unicorn, purple colored, and the color of her mane was familiar...and he's known her for years..._

" _Starlight?" He said._

 _The mare took her mask off. Yes, it was Starlight._

" _Where are we? I don't recall a masquerade having been announced before." Sunburst looked around._

" _Oh this is a special party, one thrown to reveal something that you should've realized a long time ago." Starlight smiled._

 _Sunburst stared at her. There was something strange about that smile... Oh it wasn't unfriendly or anything...more like it was a little too friendly, with a bit of mischievousness to it..._

 _He suddenly started to feel warm, and his heart started pounding._

" _W-what should I have realized...?" He asked._

 _Instead of answering, Starlight stopped the dance and inched her muzzle closer to his. Sunburst's heart started pounding harder, and found himself unable to move. Starlight's lips then touched his, and his heart stopped. The ballroom faded into clouds._

 _Sunburst was still frozen stiff, wide-eyed, when Starlight ended the kiss. Starlight was no longer wearing the gown, but she still had the smile. She then placed her mouth close to his ear._

" _That we belong together..." Starlight whispered._

 _Sunburst shuddered and collapsed backwards. Starlight stood over him and rested her chest on his-_

Suddenly, he woke up with a cry and his heart was pounding again. He held his face in his hooves as he waited for his heart to calm down, and then looked around. Even with his glasses off he could see that he was back home in his bed.

Well, in his new home, since he was the new Crystaller and would become Flurry Heart's Magical Advisor in the future Shining Armor and Cadance had offered for him to move into the castle. He was embarrassed by the idea, but accepted the offer since he knew that it made more sense for him to live closer to Flurry Heart. Plus being a Crystaller practically made him a member of the court, and members of the court most often stayed in the castle.

But that was not what he was thinking about right now, because he had realized what his dream had been telling him. It was obvious really, when you think about it.

"Oh no...I've fallen in love with Starlight?" He groaned. "How could I, she deserves a powerful unicorn not some book nerd. I know she thinks of me as the Crystal Empire's powerful wizard and even Princess Celestia said I was more of a wizard than I thought, but I'm not a powerful unicorn."

He sighed, now wishing that he wasn't a member of the court. If it was just him and his books like in the past he could just stay home with his worries and insecurity. But now that he was a Crystaller he had important duties to tend to, and it wouldn't be responsible of him to pretend to be sick and take the day off (as much as he wanted to).

"Well, maybe I can think more about my problem tonight." He shrugged before putting on his glasses and getting out of bed.

He then brushed his mane, tail, and beard, having taken up proper grooming to fit in with his new status. He skipped grooming on his days off though, since old habits die hard.

The day went by pretty much the same as usual. Then lunchtime came around and instead of dining by himself like he does most of the time...

"Sunburst, would you like to join us for lunch?" Cadance asked.

Sunburst hesitated. He knew that she must've sensed his 'love trouble' and wanted to talk to him about it. After all the past times he was invited to dine with Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart Shining Armor was the one who always invited him.

"Well...okay." He gave in, knowing that Cadance wasn't going to leave him alone about this.

They entered the royal dining room and sat down opposite each other. Shining Armor was at the head of the table, with Flurry Heart in a high-chair between him and Cadance.

"I have to be honest Sunburst, I've sensed that something is bothering your heart." Cadance admitted. "That's why I invited you to lunch."

"If you don't want to talk about it in front of me and Flurry Heart that's okay, you can wait to talk to Cadance later." Shining Armor said before winking. "If I were you I'd talk to her either way. She never lets this sort of thing go."

"Oh you." Cadance playfully nudged her husband.

"No no, it's fine." Sunburst sighed. "Okay, the truth is I've fallen in love with Starlight. But I can't tell her since I'm not good enough for her."

"Oh Sunburst you are much better than you think you are." Cadance shook her head. "You have to let her know. However I do understand that you sometimes aren't good at talking when you're scared, so maybe you could tell her through a special gift?"

"Yeah, something the two of you both like and reflects how you feel about her." Shining Armor smiled.

"But what if she rejects me?" Sunburst said worriedly.

"Hey I know how you feel, I was very nervous when I first fell in love with Cadance." Shining Armor said comfortingly.

"In fact you should be glad you didn't see Shining Armor back when he first tried to ask me out." Cadance teased good-naturedly.

"Very funny dear." Shining Armor smirked back. "But seriously, if I hadn't let Cadance know how I feel then we wouldn't be here today. And if you don't let Starlight know how you feel then you two may never end up together. At least if you do let her know there's a chance that she'll return your feelings."

Sunburst sighed.

"Okay, I'll do it." He gave in.

"Atta boy." Shining Armor grinned proudly.

"You may have the rest of the day off to find the right gift." Cadance smiled.

"Thank you." Sunburst smiled back out of gratitude.

However, when he left after lunch his smile faded. He was still really scared, but he knew that Shining Armor was right. So he thought about a gift for Starlight...

" _I know, a book. We both enjoy books, though unlike me she prefers fiction to nonfiction._ " He thought. " _I can just give her a romance novel, and she can interpret it whichever way she wants. If she figures out that I gave it to her because I love her, then there's the possibility that she had thought about us being together if nothing else. If she just assumes that I gave it to her because I thought she'd like the story, then she most-likely never thought about us being together and probably never will. Either way, it saves me the anxiety of directly telling her my feelings._ "

With that he headed for the Crystal Empire's bookstore and started looking at the summaries for the romance novels. Unfortunately none of them seemed right, either they were so common that Starlight - or at least Twilight - most-likely already had them or they just didn't fit the situation. He started to despair as he reached the last novel.

" _Great, I don't have any other gift ideas yet none of them seem right. I'll have to check another bookstore, but this is the only one in the Crystal Empire so I'll have to go to-_ " His eyes widened. " _Canterlot. Oh ponyfeathers._ "

He gulped and hesitated, then took a deep breath and left the bookstore. He headed back to the castle.

" _I'll do it. For Starlight._ " He thought determinedly, though nervously.

He walked through the castle until he found Shining Armor and Cadance. Flurry Heart he assumed was with the servants.

"Hello, I was wondering if it was okay for me to take a trip into Canterlot." Sunburst asked them. "I decided to give Starlight a book, but none of the ones in the Crystal Empire seemed right."

"Well of course you can, nothing that important coming up that I can think of." Shining Armor smiled.

"Same, at least nothing more important than you getting together with your true love." Cadance smiled as well before putting a hoof to her mouth. "Oops."

"True-" Sunburst was stunned. "Cadance, I know you're the Princess of Love but can you actually see whether two ponies are meant to be together or not?"

"I'm neither confirming nor denying that." Cadance looked away.

"You'd better go catch the next train before it leaves anyway." Shining Armor pointed out.

"Oh, right. I'll be back as soon as I can." Sunburst promised before leaving.

"Thanks for the save." Cadance said with relief.

"No problem. But you'd better be more careful next time, you know very few ponies are allowed to learn of your 'true love radar'." Shining Armor reminded her.

"I know, I know..." Cadance sighed.

Sometimes it was annoying not being allowed to tell ponies who they were meant to be with. Especially if said pony was making a terrible mistake in a very special somepony.


	3. Day Switches From Good to Bad to Good

Sunburst nervously took the train into Canterlot, and once it arrived he headed straight for the bookstore while trying to ignore everypony. He then headed for the romance section and scanned the titles, passing over the ones he already looked at in the Crystal Empire and checking out the summaries of the rest.

Then he finally found the right one. It was about two best friends, a colt and a filly, who had grown up together. However by the time they were adults an enemy was preparing to attack and they had to go on a journey to find the power that could stop him. At least that's what the summary said, so Sunburst skimmed through it to see if it really was the right book. It was, he found out that during the journey the two friends realized that they had fallen in love. Even the ending was perfect. Sunburst closed the book with satisfaction, hoping that the plot would help Starlight see how he feels about her since they shared a few similarities with the plot: two best friends since foalhood - despite the years of separation in Starlight and Sunburst's case - who helped defend a land from an enemy (if you can really call a blizzard an 'enemy').

He made his purchase, had it gift wrapped since he wasn't good with that sort of thing, and left feeling more hopeful than he had before. He even felt a little happy, and so decided to enjoy one of the few nature sections of Canterlot before heading back. He decided on the park, the same park that Twilight had read the legend of the Mare in the Moon at (though of course Sunburst didn't know that).

Once he arrived at the park he sat down under a tree and enjoyed the fresh air.

"Well if it isn't Sun-Worst." An unpleasant voice said.

Sunburst paled. Oh no...

Oh yes, it was one of his old bullies from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.

"What're you doing back here Sun-Worst, forgot how lame you really are?" The bully sneered.

"I **was** trying to enjoy the park." Sunburst frowned.

"Well enjoy a different park, because a weakling like you don't belong here." The bully glared before pushing Sunburst down.

Sunburst's present slid out of his saddlebags.

"What's this, a present?" The bully smirked, picking it up. "Who do you have to give presents to, other than your mommy and daddy? Or maybe this is for them, an apology present for being such a disappointing son. Even your own sister was ashamed of you."

"Give it back!" Sunburst lunged for the present but the bully pulled it away in time.

"To Starlight?" The bully saw the tag on the present and read it. "Well that ain't your mommy. Who is she, a mare you have a crush on?" He tossed the present into a nearby mud puddle. "Get real, like even an Earthy pony would want to be with you-"

The bully felt a sharp pain in his side and found himself sliding across the grass. Shocked, he looked up and saw a very ticked-off Starlight.

"Get away from him!" Starlight snapped, her horn glowing as if ready to zap him again.

"Wha- Who are you?" The bully scrambled up in fright.

"Sunburst's best friend. Now leave him alone before I fry your tail off!" Starlight's horn glowed brighter. "You have no reason or right to make fun of anypony else, in fact I'm ashamed to even call you a pony! Get out of here before I contact Princess Celestia!"

The bully scrammed, even if Starlight was bluffing about Princess Celestia - which she wasn't - he knew Starlight would just zap him again anyway.

Starlight calmed down and went over to Sunburst, who was just pulling his present out of the mud. She could tell that he was sobbing.

"Is...is this why you never wanted to tell me about your life at the school?" Starlight realized sympathetically.

"Yeah...that was pretty much every day for me. P-Plus the teachers scolding me for not being able to perform most of the spells." Sunburst sobbed.

"Oh Sunburst..." Starlight hugged him, letting him cry into her shoulder. "Don't listen to that lame-brain, you're a much better pony than he'll ever be."

"Even though I can't perform magic well?" Sunburst sobbed.

"Oh that's not important." Starlight scoffed. "It doesn't matter whether your magic is powerful or not, what matters is that your heart is. In fact, your heart is one of the most powerful hearts I've ever seen."

Sunburst gradually stopped sobbing, and pulled away to smile at her with gratitude.

"Oh..." Sunburst studied his present and wiped off as much of the mud as he could. "Here, I got this for you."

Starlight unwrapped it and read the book's summary.

"Thank you." She smiled. "I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm also impressed, coming to a place with bad memories and bullies just to get me a present for no reason."

"Actually, being my friend is the best reason to get anypony a present." Sunburst smiled. "Especially my best friend."

Starlight smiled and put the book in her saddlebags.

"Want to hang out for the rest of the day?" She asked. "I don't have to be back until dinnertime."

"I'd love to." Sunburst smiled.

They spent the rest of the day just hanging out for fun. Randomly visiting stores, dropping into a cafe for a treat, that sort of thing. Then when it got close to dinnertime Starlight walked Sunburst to the train for the Crystal Empire before heading for the train to Ponyville.

"Hello Starlight, how was your trip?" Twilight asked during dinner.

"It was nice, then it became great after I ran into Sunburst. He was there getting me a present." Starlight smiled.

"Really?" Twilight said, sounding happy-yet-suspicious.

"Uh-huh, a book I never read before. I'm going to read it right after dinner." Starlight grinned.

And she did, enjoying it at first. Then she got to the part where the two friends were starting to realize their feelings for each other. Now growing suspicious herself, Starlight continued reading the story even thought it was getting really late. Then she reached the part where the two friends, now a couple, had defeated the enemy. But that wasn't the end of the story, the last chapter was an epilogue...that featured the couple getting married. Starlight couldn't help but blush when she read that, and after finishing the book she thought for a moment.

" _Did Sunburst know about the two friends becoming a couple when he got me this, or was the summary mentioning the two friends battling an enemy the only reason why he got it?_ " She thought, confused and slightly nervous.

She laid down, turned off her lamp, and tried to get some sleep. But she couldn't stop thinking about the book and Sunburst, so it was a long time before she finally did.

She ended up sleeping in the next morning, but no one understood 'staying up late to finish a book' better than Twilight so she just let Starlight sleep as long as she wanted.

When Starlight finally woke up she headed for the kitchen to make herself some lunch. Twilight and Spike came in shortly afterward to make their own lunches.

"Good afternoon Starlight, I'm guessing the book was captivating." Twilight smiled.

"Sort of...I mean it was, but that wasn't the only reason why I stayed up so late." Starlight said, sounding a little worried.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked concernedly.

"Well...sorry for the spoiler, but quite some time after the two friends start their journey they...end up falling in love." Starlight admitted. "They even get married at the end."

"Really- Hey, this could mean that Sunburst does love you!" Twilight grinned.

"I've been thinkin about that possibility too...but what if we're both wrong and he rejects me?" Starlight said. "And even if we're right...then why would he pick me out of all of the mares in Equestria?"

"How about you just talk to him? After all talking to him and admitting things was what repaired your friendship in the first place." Twilight suggested.

"All right...but would you mind coming with me?" Starlight asked.

Twilight just nodded with an understanding smile.

"You two go on ahead, I'll hold down the fort. Or castle rather." Spike chuckled.

"Thanks Spike." Twilight smiled.


	4. Confessions and Discussion

So Twilight and Starlight made the journey to the Crystal Empire on their own, and when they arrived they headed straight for Sunburst's room in the castle. They didn't come across Shining Armor or Cadance, so they figured that they were either in the throne room or in Flurry Heart's room.

Once they got to Sunburst's room Starlight nervously knocked on the door. Sunburst opened it and automatically blushed. Starlight didn't make anything out of that, but Twilight couldn't help but smirk knowingly.

"Oh hello Starlight, Twilight...um, I'm...assuming you finished the book?" Sunburst said awkwardly.

"I did, thank you Sunburst it was a great story. I really enjoyed reading it." Starlight smiled sincerely before looking nervous. "However it also made me wonder something so...maybe Twilight and I...?"

"Oh yes, of course." Sunburst opened the door wider and let them in.

They headed for the dining room/kitchen area - even though Sunburst was allowed to eat with the court and the royal family Shining Armor and Cadance gave him his own kitchen due to knowing that he sometimes preferred eating by himself - and Starlight and Twilight sat down while Sunburst prepared some tea.

"So...did you know that the two best friends end up together later on in the story?" Starlight asked Sunburst awkwardly.

Sunburst blushed again.

"Actually...I did know...in fact that was why I chose that particular book." He admitted.

Twilight grinned with joy, but Starlight just blushed and tears started to form in her eyes.

"You mean...you mean you...?" She tried not to sob.

Despite his heart pounding, Sunburst worked up the courage to tell her the truth. He didn't want to lie to her anyway.

"Yes...I love you." He said.

Starlight couldn't hold back her tears anymore. Sunburst, concerned, went over to her and rubbed her back as she sobbed.

"Why?" She sobbed. "Why did you fall in love with me when there are better mares out there? Mares who aren't capable of becoming evil?"

Tears now formed in Sunburst's eyes.

"Starlight, you are not evil." He said sternly but also comfortingly. "You never were evil, if you were then Twilight and her friends wouldn't have wanted to befriend you. Plus you wouldn't have accepted their friendship."

"But...but my past mistakes..." Starlight continued sobbing.

"Starlight, you didn't make those mistakes because you were evil. You made them because you have a strong heart that got broken...by me unintentionally abandoning you." He hung his head shamefully. "I'm really sorry about that, our friendship should've meant more to me than my reputation at the school."

Starlight started to calm down and smile.

"It's okay...after having seen one of the bullies I can understand your unwillingness to tell me about them." She said. "Besides, I'm not the only one with a strong heart." She then put a hoof on his heart.

Sunburst smiled, feeling better.

"Does...does this mean I'm your very special somepony?" He asked.

"Only if I'm your very special somepony." Starlight chuckled.

"It's a deal." Sunburst chuckled back.

He then sat down.

"So...now what? I mean you live in Ponyville and I live...here." He pointed out.

"True, because of that dating will be a bit difficult." Starlight had to agree. "How about we just get together during special occasions, that is one of us stays at the other's home for long periods of time whenever a holiday and even our birthdays come up? Along with that we can keep in touch through letters and random short visits."

"That sounds good...I definitely agree to a long visit for Hearts and Hooves day." Sunburst nodded. "Nightmare Night...that's kind of a friendship holiday so I don't mind including our friends in that. I can even come to Ponyville every time since the Crystal Empire doesn't really celebrate it despite Shining Armor and Cadance introducing it during their first Nightmare Night here."

"That'd be cool, Luna comes to Ponyville every Nightmare Night anyway so you can get to know her more too. Like us she didn't have much luck with friends at first, so I think you two becoming friends would be good for both of you." Starlight smiled.

"To Ponyville? Nowhere else, not even Canterlot?" Sunburst was surprised.

"Canterlot isn't as much fun, and during her first Nightmare Night Luna bonded with a colt named Pipsqueak, her first ever fan." Starlight smiled.

"Ah. What about Hearth's Warming Eve? I know you'd kinda prefer celebrating it with all of your friends and your parents."

"Oh I don't mind coming here to celebrate it with just you instead." Starlight then hung her head slightly. "As for my parents...um..."

"You...haven't seen them since you...ran away to that town have you?" Sunburst realized.

"No. I guess I've been scared of how they might react when they find out what I did. I'm not even sure whether they're still home or moved away."

"Maybe Twilight can help you with that, she helped you find me."

"Yeah, without me asking her to." Starlight scoffed. "Though that was only because I was afraid of you finding out about my past."

"I can understand that."

"Well...I guess it is time I talked to my parents about my past. I've already apologized to the rest of the ponies I've hurt anyway, so I might as well finish the job." Starlight gave in. "Besides, they're really kind and forgiving like you so if you didn't hold my past against me I'm kinda sure they won't disown me or anything either."

"I'm really sure of that." Sunburst smiled reassuringly. "In fact I bet they just want to know that you're okay."

"Yeah...I'll talk to Twilight about it after we get home. Before we do you want to have one date today?"

"I'd love to."

"Great, Twilight how long-"

Starlight finally realized that Twilight was gone. Instead there was a letter in front of where she had been sitting. Starlight picked up the paper and read it:

Decided to give you two some time alone, so I left to hang out with Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart. Starlight and I will leave for Ponyville in the morning so that you two can have a proper dinner date tonight. Congratulations to both of you, I know you'll both be happy together for a long time. Starlight, if you ever need to you're allowed to stay in the Crystal Empire. And Sunburst, you are more than welcome to stay in the Castle of Friendship if you ever decide to visit Starlight in Ponyville.

Twilight

Starlight and Sunburst smiled at each other, touched by Twilight's letter. And a bit amused too, who knew she could read minds?

"How about we leave on our date now?" Starlight smiled. "We can see a play or something before dinner."

"Okay, but let me tidy up a bit." Sunburst left the dining room.

Starlight followed him into his bedroom, where he started brushing his mane, beard, and tail.

"I normally groom myself before court, but today's my day off so I didn't bother." Sunburst added.

"Well grooming yourself now isn't necessary, I actually find your messy look kinda cute." Starlight smiled flirtingly.

Sunburst blushed as his heart skipped a beat.

"Heh...thank you but I want to look nice for our first date." He smiled shyly.

"Not gonna argue with that." Starlight chuckled.

They first went to see a play, which turned out to be about how Twilight and Spike saved the Crystal Empire (obviously a popular play there). Afterward they walked around a bit, talking and enjoying each other's company while waiting for evening to arrive. During the walk the Crystal Ponies started to grasp that Starlight and their Crystaller were dating, and they congratulated the couple. They already knew Starlight pretty well by this point, at least the fact that she's Sunburst's foalhood friend and helped saved the Empire from the blizzard, so they had a high respect for her. Not as high as their respect for Spike, but close to their respect for Sunburst.

After a delicious and lovely dinner they headed back to the castle. A guard stopped them.

"Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance wanted me to tell you that they have Starlight Glimmer's usual room all ready for her." He said.

"Thank you, I'll escort her there." Sunburst smiled.

"As you wish. Oh, and congratulations. Heard a few of the Crystal Ponies talking about you two." The guard smiled.

"Thank you." Starlight smiled.

The guard tipped his helmet.

Sunburst walked Starlight to her room, which actually wasn't too far away from his room.

"You know, I used to be confused as to why Cadance and Shining Armor gave me a room near yours instead of with the rest of the guest rooms." Starlight remarked. "At first I thought it was because they were being considerate enough to give me a short walk to your room, but now I'm wondering if it was because they had a feeling that we'd end up together."

"I don't know about Shining Armor, but I'm sure Cadance had a feeling." Sunburst chuckled.

"Yeah, I bet you're right." Starlight chuckled back.

Once they reached her room they hesitated. They blushed and their hearts started pounding as they realized something: normally after a date, the couple share a kiss.

"So...um...goodnight...I guess?" Starlight rubbed the back of her head.

"Well...it is night and we did have a great date so..." Sunburst tried to joke to get rid of the tension, but his nerves got in the way.

"Yeah..." Starlight then gave a groan of disgust. "You know what, I'm tired of being scared and nervous around you. I mean we're best friends and we're now dating, we shouldn't be scared or even nervous around each other."

"I know, but our nervousness is justified given our past." Sunburst pointed out.

"True, but if we're gonna make this long-distance relationship work I think we're gonna have to be a little bolder than usual."

Sunburst hesitated for a moment, then got a determined look.

"You know what, you're right." He agreed.

He then put a hoof around her shoulders and leaned in. Starlight leaned in as well, and they kissed. Overwhelmed from the amount of love they felt, they sat down and wrapped their hooves around each other before starting to kiss passionately. When they finally had to stop for air, they panted and gazed into each other's eyes as their hearts beat rapidly.

"Wow..." Starlight breathed out.

"I'll say..." Sunburst agreed. "I mean I knew I love you but...I didn't think any stallion could love a mare this much."

"My love for you is impossibly strong as well." Starlight smiled before snuggling up to him.

Sunburst hugged her back, then they reluctantly had to part. They both were really tired and needed to sleep.

"I'll see you in the morning." Starlight smiled flirtingly.

"Looking forward to it." Sunburst smiled back.

Starlight went inside, and Sunburst headed to his own room. After they fell asleep they ended up having the best dreams they ever had.


	5. Finishing Putting the Past Behind Her

The next day Starlight and Sunburst met in his room for breakfast, then they made their way to the throne room. Shining Armor and Cadance were there, but not Twilight or Flurry Heart.

"Twilight's foalsitting Flurry Heart." Cadance smiled. "And congratulations you two, I can tell that you're a couple now."

"Yeah...Twilight didn't tell you?" Starlight was surprised.

"No, I think she figured that you'd want to tell us yourselves." Shining Armor chuckled. "And may I offer my own congratulations."

"Thank you." Sunburst smiled.

"So, what are your plans for the future? Will one of you be moving or...?" Shining Armor hesitated.

"Oh I'm not moving here, we decided to go with a long-distance relationship for now." Starlight said. "Truthfully I think that would be good for our relationship, considering Sunburst gets busy often. Might as well get used to not seeing him all the time you know?"

"I think that's a good idea." Cadance approved.

"Me too, especially since Starlight deserves to live in the Castle of Friendship so I don't want to take her away from it until she's completely ready." Sunburst agreed.

Starlight kissed him on the cheek for the compliment, causing him to blush.

"Very well, but when you are ready to move into the Crystal Empire then Cadance and I will be happy to welcome you into the court." Shining Armor smiled.

Starlight dropped her mouth open.

"The court? Really?" She said, touched and surprised.

"Of course. Admittedly we will have to give you a few tests to see which jobs you're best suited for, but otherwise you have powerful magic and a strong heart." Cadance smiled. "So we believe you'll be a great addition to the court."

"I-" Starlight choked up, so she just went over to them and hugged them. "Thank you."

"Oh hello- Did I miss something?" Twilight asked, just entering with Flurry Heart.

"Shining Armor and Cadance just invited Starlight to join the court once she's ready to move into the Crystal Empire." Sunburst explained.

"Oh. Congratulations Starlight, I'm very proud of you." Twilight smiled.

Starlight turned to smile at Twilight.

"Thank you Twilight...for everything." She said.

"Aw forget it, I'm always willing to help my students and friends and you're both." Twilight grinned. "Heck if there's anything else you need, feel free to let me know."

"Um...well there is one thing." Starlight admitted.

She left Shining Armor and Cadance to go closer to Twilight. She then took a deep breath.

"There's actually one step left in putting the past behind me...my parents." Starlight admitted. "I haven't seen them since I left home."

"Ah, and you want me to help you find them?" Twilight guessed.

"Yes, I don't know whether they stayed home or moved away."

"Say no more, once we get back to Ponyville I'll start searching for them. Speaking of which, would you like to leave today or would you rather spend more time with Sunburst?"

"Well, truthfully even though I want to see my parents again I'm also nervous about it." Starlight admitted. "So I'd rather get it over with."

"Gotcha. We'd better start packing then." Twilight went over to give Flurry Heart to Shining Armor and Cadance. "Oh, Starlight would you like Sunburst's support with this one? That is if my siblings can spare him for a while."

"I think so, no new births coming up or anything." Cadance nodded.

"Right, and there's nothing going on in court that really needs Sunburst's attention right now." Shining Armor added.

"Hm...maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea. The news of my past might be easier for my parents to handle if they know right away that I was able to rekindle my friendship with Sunburst." Starlight considered. "What do you think Sunburst?"

"Well, I'm gonna have to 'meet the parents' anyway now that we're dating." Sunburst chuckled. "Plus truthfully I'd like to see them again, they were kinda like second parents to me."

"Then it's settled." Twilight smiled.

Then they - Sunburst included - packed up and headed for the train station, with Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart walking them there.

"I'm looking forward to you moving here Auntie Starlight." Flurry Heart smiled.

"So am I." Starlight smiled, affectionately ruffling Flurry Heart's mane.

They then said their goodbyes, and Twilight, Starlight, and Sunburst got on the train. It turned out leaving for Ponyville now ended up working out because Trixie had recently arrived for a visit.

"Starlight!" She waved from the train station.

"Trixie! When did you get here?" Starlight rushed off the train to greet her.

"Just a couple days ago, your other friends told me you were visiting Sunburst." Trixie smiled.

Twilight wasn't going to say it out loud, but she was glad that Starlight's friendship humbled Trixie enough to not speak in the third person anymore.

"I was, because I had to tell him something: I've fallen in love with him." Starlight grinned.

"That's...wonderful. From the look on your face Trixie is assuming he returned your feelings?" Trixie smiled, though didn't seem that happy.

Twilight facehoofed. So much for becoming humble. Then she lifted her hoof away...maybe there was now a significance to Trixie using the third person versus using the first person.

"He sure did."

"That's even more wonderful." Trixie smiled more sincerely this time.

"Are you okay?" Sunburst asked, just reaching them.

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't Trixie be?" Trixie shrugged.

"Because I've already learned that when somepony is acting hesitant and nervous it means they're hiding something, not matter what they say." Sunburst said.

"Sunburst is right...we both learned that back when we were hesitant in telling each other the truth about our pasts." Starlight agreed. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not really, I...well, I guess I'm just a little sad and jealous." Trixie admitted. "I mean you found your very special somepony..."

"And you haven't?" Starlight guessed sympathetically.

Trixie shook her head sadly.

"I'm on the road a lot and given my past I doubt anypony would want me for his very special somepony." Trixie sighed.

"Hey, my past was way worse than yours yet Sunburst fell in love with me." Starlight chuckled, trying to cheer Trixie up.

"Yeah but you two knew each other since you were both foals so he already knew what's really in your heart." Trixie pointed out.

"Oh yeah..." Starlight winced.

"Trixie, Starlight has told me a lot about you and from what I've gathered you've reached the point where you actually do deserve a very special somepony." Sunburst said. "You just have to be patient. I mean you do travel a lot so you meet more ponies than me, Starlight, and Twilight combined. Based on that you're sure to find your very special somepony one day."

"Well, while I wouldn't have said this before Starlight befriended you: Sunburst is right." Twilight spoke up. "You really have put the past behind you. With all the stallions in Equestria I'm sure there's at least one who likes traveling and working behind the scenes of a stage performance. You just have to keep your eyes - and your heart - open."

Trixie looked at Twilight and tears almost formed in her eyes.

"Thank you...princess." She smiled, touched.

"Oh call me Twilight, frankly I can only handle the princess title during formal events. And I mean **very** formal, not regular formal." Twilight scoffed amusedly.

Sunburst, Starlight, and even Trixie chuckled at that.

"So, from what I've heard Sunburst rarely leaves the Crystal Empire." Trixie said. "Meaning that this visit must be significant. Planning on telling the rest of your friends the good news?"

"There'll be a bit of that, yeah, but actually we're going to search for my parents." Starlight said. "I haven't seen them since I left home."

"Really? I can't imagine what that's like, I see mine every time I visit Canterlot." Trixie said sympathetically.

"You lived in Canterlot?" Twilight said. "I don't recall seeing- Oh what am I saying, I barely acknowledged my old friends so of course I wouldn't remember seeing you."

"You barely acknowledged your old friends?" Sunburst couldn't believe this. "But you're the Princess of Friendship."

"Don't rub it in, I already went on that guilt trip." Twilight rolled her eyes. "But yeah I was too focused on my studies back then to even consider friendship that much. Moving here and defeating Nightmare Moon was what opened my eyes, and my heart, to the idea."

"Ah."

"Anyway, we're first here so that I can start searching for Starlight's parents, since we don't know whether they moved or not. How about the three of you hang out in town while I start searching?"

"Okay, I was planning on telling the rest of my friends the good news about me and Sunburst anyway." Starlight smiled before chuckling. "Oh yeah, almost forgot: better brace yourself for a major party from Pinkie Pie Sunburst."

"Oh great." Sunburst facehoofed. "Never was fond of being the center of attention."

"If it helps I can ask Pinkie to limit the party to closest friends and host it in the castle."

"That would help a lot, thanks."

Trixie giggled.

"What's so funny?" Sunburst asked.

"The irony of Starlight having a very special somepony who doesn't like being the center of attention and a best friend who does." Trixie grinned.

Starlight chuckled.

"That is ironic, but also fitting since I'm kind of in the middle." She said. "I do like being the center of attention at times, but I also don't mind letting others have the spotlight instead. So, which friend should we tell first?"

"I think Pinkie so that she has plenty of time to set up the party in the castle." Twilight said. "The others you can just tell as you meet them."

"That works." Sunburst agreed.

With that, Starlight, Sunburst, and Trixie headed into town to tell the others the good news while Twilight headed for the castle to start searching for Starlight's parents.

"Hey Twilight, where's Starlight?" Spike greeted her.

"She, Sunburst, and Trixie are telling the rest of our friends the good news." Twilight smiled.

"Ah Sunburst returned Starlight's feelings, that's great! I hope Sunburst will be staying with us for a while, I've been wanting to get to know him a bit more."

"He will, especially since he's going to go with Starlight when she leaves to talk to her parents. That's why I'm here, to start searching for them."

"I hope Starlight will be more open to that idea than she was to the idea of rekindling her friendship with Sunburst."

"Actually this was her idea. She decided it was time to finish putting the past behind her."

"Oh. Never mind then. Want me to help you?"

"Sure, I'd love some help."

"Good, I want to help since I can understand wanting to officially reunite with your parents. Or at least your mother."

So Twilight and Spike started searching for Starlight's parents. Fortunately Starlight already told Twilight the name of her hometown plus her parents' names, so Twilight and Spike had a good starting point. A really good starting point, because it turned out that Starlight's parents hadn't moved away at all. They hadn't even changed houses let alone towns.

Later on of course there was a party thrown by Pinkie. Everyone had fun at the party, and Arbor and Trixie enjoyed becoming friends with Sunburst.


	6. Parental Reunion

The next day, after gathering the info from Twilight, Starlight decided to head back home with Sunburst. Twilight offered to join them, but Starlight decided that it would be best if it was just her and Sunburst. As for Trixie she promised to stay in Ponyville until Starlight and Sunburst return.

Like her reunion with Sunburst, Starlight was understandably nervous once they reached her parents' front door. Unlike her reunion with Sunburst, Starlight was able to knock on the door without encouragement.

"Yes, may I-" A white unicorn with a dark pink/light purple mane and tail opened the door; her blue eyes widened. "Starlight? Honey is that you?"

"Hi mom." Starlight hung her head slightly.

Starlight's mom - Sweetheart Guide - suddenly left the doorway and hugged her. A Cutie Mark of three hearts was now visible on Sweetheart Guide's flank.

"Sweetheart honey, what's-" A purple unicorn with a light blue mane and tail and lavender eyes appeared and also widened his eyes. "Starlight?"

"Hi dad." Starlight started to shed tears.

Starlight's dad - Alcor Garrison - just stood there, pain evident in his eyes.

"Where have you been, don't you know how worried sick your mother and I were." He said. "I know Sunburst leaving you hurt, but-"

"I know, I'm so sorry." Starlight almost sobbed.

Sweetheart Guide pulled away.

"Well, at least you've returned-" Sweetheart Guide just noticed Sunburst. "Sunburst? My goodness is that really you?"

"Yeah..." Sunburst looked away awkwardly, a bit afraid that Starlight's parents now hated him for 'abandoning' her.

"It is, we rekindled our friendship a while back." Starlight confirmed. "Turns out the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Kinda a long story."

"In that case, why don't we all go inside for tea and you can tell us the whole story." Sweetheart Guide suggested.

"Good idea, I would like to hear the story and I definitely need some tea." Alcor Garrison gave Sunburst a cold look.

"Me too..." Sunburst winced.

Starlight and Sunburst followed Sweetheart Guide (well actually Guide was her maiden name now, but I'm going to continue using it since this is her first appearance) and Alcor Garrison inside. Once Sunburst was inside enough for the front door to be shut Alcor Garrison stopped him.

"I know you and my daughter were friends, and you may have rekindled your friendship now, but when you left it broke her heart. So if you mess up again you will have to answer to me." Alcor Garrison glared.

"I know I broke her heart sir, and I never meant to." Sunburst hung his head.

"Dad easy, Sunburst didn't really abandon me he just felt unworthy of my friendship." Starlight frowned.

Alcor Garrison softened.

"Is this true?" He asked.

"Yes sir, school...well, to put it simply school was horrible. I could barely do anything and I was frequently bullied. I ended up believing that I was worthless and that Starlight deserved unicorns more powerful than me for friends, so I couldn't even work up the courage to contact her." Sunburst was almost in tears as a few bad memories from school played in his mind.

"Ah...I see. So finding out about that is why you rekindled your friendship with him." Alcor Garrison turned to Starlight with realization.

"Yes, though I was afraid that he wouldn't want to be friends with me because...well, because instead of receiving help over my pain I lashed out. I listened to my broken heart instead of my common sense and I ended up doing some horrible things." Starlight hung her head. "This was why I didn't return even after realizing how wrong I was, I was kinda afraid that you would disown me."

"Starlight I could never disown you, no matter what you did." Sweetheart Guide wrapped a hoof around Starlight's shoulders.

"Even if I killed one of the princesses?" Starlight deadpanned.

Sweetheart Guide and Alcor Garrison looked at her with shock while Sunburst facehoofed. Not exactly an appropriate thing to say.

"I mean I didn't, I'm just saying..." Starlight hastily backtracked.

"Oh. Well...I guess that would be a gray area." Sweetheart Guide said awkwardly. "Um, why don't you all sit down while I get the tea."

Starlight, Sunburst, and Alcor Garrison did. Sweetheart Guide soon appeared with tea.

"So what did you really do?" Alcor Garrison asked.

Starlight took a deep breath and released it.

"Well, first of all I deluded myself into believing that friendships could never be harmed if everypony was the same, so I created a spell to remove Cutie Marks. Ended up taking over a village with that, until Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends found out about it." Starlight began. "They managed to reveal me as a fraud - since I never removed my Cutie Mark - causing my leadership over the town to end. So I started spying on Twilight and found out how she and her friends became connected as fillies, leading to them becoming friends later on as adults. Out of revenge I went back in time to try to prevent their connection, but Twilight and her brother-figure Spike found out and started following me back in time. It turns out every attempt I made to prevent their connection from forming led to Equestria becoming ruined by a random enemy, but I didn't believe it until Twilight showed me one of the bad futures. I then told her the truth about my past, and she convinced me to try again at making new friends, even offering me her friendship as a start."

Alcor Garrison and Sweetheart Guide were silent for a moment, processing what Starlight had just told them.

"So you're now friends with the Princess of Friendship?" Sweetheart Guide finally said.

"Yeah, and her student since I obviously had - and still have - a lot to learn when it comes to friendship." Starlight nodded.

Starlight wasn't surprised by her mom's question because she always had a habit of focusing on the good side of a bad incident. In fact when Sunburst left for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns Sweetheart Guide had an optimistic reaction to that, and even had one when a long time passed without Sunburst contacting her. Looking back on that Starlight wished she had listened to her mom instead of dismissing her optimistic view, but she wasn't going to travel through time just to change that.

"Well, you did do a couple of bad things but at least you learned your lesson and you're trying to make up for it." Alcor Garrison then finally said. "And no we're not going to disown you, we're just glad you're back. And not just physically either." He then smiled.

Starlight smiled back.

"So how did you and Sunburst meet up and rekindle your friendship?" Sweetheart Guide asked.

"Oh that was Twilight's doing, she was the one who tracked down Sunburst and she made reuniting with him my first lesson. I was hesitant, even scared, at first because I believe he wouldn't want to become friends with me after finding out about my past. Turns out he was afraid that I wouldn't want to be friends with him after finding out that his magic isn't as powerful as I thought, so our first attempt was...well, pretty darn awkward." Starlight chuckled a bit.

"Yes, it sure was. A little amusing too though now that I look back on it." Sunburst nodded.

"Yeah." Starlight agreed. "Anyway, I pretty much gave up on being friends with Sunburst again until...hoo boy where to begin with this part?"

"Allow me: have either of you heard of the Crystal Empire?" Sunburst asked Starlight's parents.

"Oh yes, in fact we were planning on taking a trip there really soon. There aren't really any couples I have to help and your father doesn't need to help any lost foals right now." Sweetheart Guide smiled.

To clarify: Sweetheart Guide was a couples' therapist and Alcor Garrison was a counselor for abused and/or runaway foals. That's why I named Starlight's dad that, turns out Alcor means 'neglected'. So he's a garrison for the neglected, pretty cool huh?

Oh, Alcor Garrison also did search for Starlight after she ran away but the town she took over was so unknown that he could never find her. Plus there were other lost foals he needed to help, and he didn't want to leave his wife alone for too long after their daughter left. Anyway...

"We even heard that the new heir to the throne had been born not too long ago...Flurry Heart I think? Interesting name." Alcor Garrison said.

"Fitting too, you see the Crystal Empire is where Sunburst moved and the day I was reunited with him was the same day Twilight first visited her. Flurry Heart's her niece." Starlight said.

"Oh yes, I heard that the new rulers were related to Princess Twilight. Prince Sh-Shining Armor and Princess Cadance right?"

"Right, though all three of them prefer to be addressed without their titles." Starlight confirmed. "Anyway, Flurry Heart is an alicorn and her magic back then was berserk and accidentally shattered the Crystal Empire's main source of defense. So I went to get Sunburst to help, but this led to the reveal that his magic isn't as powerful as I assumed. Fortunately his knowledge of magic is powerful and he was able to use that to help restore the source of defense, and also fortunately his confession led to mine which led to our friendship being restored."

"We kept in touch ever since, and Starlight visits me often." Sunburst added. "Er...I'd visit her too but my life at the school prevented me from being willing to travel outside the Crystal Empire."

"You did manage to make some progress though, you went to Canterlot just to get me a gift and you were willing to come with me here." Starlight smiled.

"Yes, well, that was just for you." Sunburst blushed a little.

"I'm so happy you two are back together." Sweetheart Guide teared up with joy.

"Truthfully, so am I." Alcor Garrison admitted.

"More than together...actually." Starlight now blushed. "We...fell in love not too long ago."

"Really?" Alcor Garrison was either unhappy or wistful, it was hard to tell.

"That's wonderful news!" Sweetheart Guide went over to hug Starlight and Sunburst. "I always had a feeling that you two would end up together, why even as foals you both had a strong connection."

Starlight and Sunburst both blushed, but otherwise enjoyed the hug. Then Starlight noticed her dad's expression.

"Dad? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh...nothing really, it's just...I can't believe how much you've grown up." Alcor Garrison admitted.

"I know...I've been away for too long." Starlight agreed. "And I wish I could move back here but...well, I'm still Twilight's student and I don't want to neglect my studies."

"Oh we understand honey." Sweetheart Guide pulled away to smile at Starlight; she then turned to her husband. "Alcor dear, things have been slow here for a long time. Maybe...maybe it is time we moved? Say...to Ponyville? I believe that's where Twilight Sparkle lives."

"It is." Starlight nodded.

Alcor Garrison smiled.

"I think that's not a bad idea. There may be couples and neglected foals who need our help there anyway." He said.

"I don't know about couples, but there is one foal who could use a kind ear." Starlight remembered. "Her name is Diamond Tiara, her mom used to push her into being a social climber which led to Diamond Tiara becoming a bully. Diamond Tiara learned her lesson and stood up to her mom even before I arrived in Ponyville, and her mom doesn't push her around anymore, but since her dad is busy with work she could use a parental figure to talk to."

"What about Silver Spoon's parents- Oh yeah, they're often busy too." Sunburst remembered. "Well, better busy kind parents than idle mean ones."

"Oh the poor dear...but if she finally stood up to her mom before you arrived how do you know all this?" Sweetheart Guide asked.

"Oh after Diamond Tiara heard about me she visited me to talk to me about bad pasts." Starlight explained. "Also when Diamond Tiara's not sleeping over at Silver Spoon's place her mom Spoiled Rich-"

Alcor Garrison stifled a laugh.

"Sorry, it's just that name is a little too fitting." He explained.

"I know right? Anyway, Spoiled Rich sometimes hires me to foalsit Diamond Tiara whenever she goes to Canterlot for an extended stay. I'm sure that's only because I'm 'Princess' Twilight's student though." Starlight rolled her eyes. "However I'm not complaining, Diamond Tiara is actually a nice and fun filly deep down and our talks have also helped me."

"I think talking to me will help her as well." Alcor Garrison nodded. "That settles it, we're definitely moving to Ponyville."

So Starlight and Sunburst helped Alcor Garrison and Sweetheart Guide pack up and move to Ponyville. Starlight had written ahead to Twilight before they left, so once she got the letter Twilight started arranging for a new home to be built for the Garrisons. She also talked to the hospital about setting up a fun wing for neglected/runaway foals to talk to Alcor in.

Once Sunburst and the Garrisons arrived the Garrisons were greeted warmly. Pinkie unsurprisingly arranged for a party and while they waited Twlight, Spike, Starlight, and Sunburst showed Alcor and Sweetheart around the castle. Trixie joined them as well, wanting to get to know Starlight's parents. Upon learning how Trixie and Starlight became friends Alcor and Sweetheart weren't happy that Trixie accidentally hurt Starlight, but they forgave her and were glad that she was able to help Starlight start to gain confidence in making new friends. They also became interested in Trixie's career, and promised to see her next show.

"By the way, Sweetheart and I have been wanting thank you for helping our daughter leave her destructive path." Alcor then said to Twilight. "And for helping her reunite with us."

"You're very welcome, and I'm glad she did. Not only for her sake, but also because of you two moving into Ponyville." Twilight smiled. "I think your presence here will help a lot of foals in both Ponyville and Canterlot Mr. Garrison, Canterlot is only a short train ride from here so I can even arrange for you to help foals from there."

"I would like that, the more foals I can help the happier I am." Alcor smiled.

And obviously the first foal he started talking to was Diamond Tiara. It wasn't an official meeting though, Diamond Tiara was a bit afraid of her mom finding out about the counseling so it was set up to make Spoiled Rich think that she was merely socializing with other high class ponies. In Spoiled Rich's mindset: being a student of Princess Twilight made you a high class pony, and in turn made your family high class ponies as well.

This didn't make her change her mind about the Cutie Mark Crusaders though, but that was for two reasons: one was obviously her pride, and the other was because the Crusaders weren't official students of Twilight. They just learned things from her for the fun of it and to hang out with an honorary aunt.

But back to Diamond Tiara...

"So, my daughter told me about you. She said your talks with her helped you both." Alcor said.

"Yeah, it was nice talking to somepony who could listen and not judge. Plus Starlight's a fun foalsitter, even though I can't use magic she still sometimes performs spells to entertain me." Diamond Tiara smiled. "She even used her magic to send us flying around the library while we were acting out a story. Plus she isn't materialistic, which is a breath of fresh air after living a life like mine."

"I'm glad she still isn't, it means her mother and I raised her right." Alcor smiled. "Though given what she told us about her first Hearth's Warming Eve in Ponyville we may have overdone it just a bit."

"Oh I think she just didn't feel like celebrating without you and her mom...and possibly also Sunburst." Diamond Tiara giggled. "I'm glad those two are together, Sunburst is a really nice stallion. I hope I can find one as well..."

She and Alcor continued talking, and Diamond Tiara felt less alone than before. Not only did she have friends in school, she also had a friend - and possibly big-sister-figure - in Starlight and a second-father in Alcor. She later even met Sweetheart, who became more of a mother to her than Spoiled Rich ever was.

Alcor and Sweetheart also returned to being second-parents for Sunburst, and accepted him as Starlight's very special somepony (and possible future son-in-law, though they didn't say that one out loud even to each other until they were getting ready for bed one night).

As for Starlight, she finally felt as if her past had been completely put behind her. Not only did she get her old friend Sunburst back, but they were now more than friends, she was able to make new friends, and she even got her parents back. And she had never been happier.


End file.
